This invention relates to signal processing systems and in particular to means for the quantization and analog/digital conversion of analog signals.
Military and commercial electronic systems frequently require quantization or analog/digital conversion of analog signals. Such functions are common for communications systems, radar systems and systems in general which employ digital processing or the operation of digital computers from analog inputs.
State-of-the-art circuits for accomplishing these ends are often subject to one or more of various limitations which include: not operating in real time; not being able to perform quantization and A/D conversion for large input signal bandwidths; requiring large bandwidths for follow up circuitry; and the inability to operate on both unipolar and bi-polar video waveforms.
A substantial improvement in the quantization and analog/digital conversion of analog signals has been provided by the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. 4,034,363 entitled REAL TIME DATA RATE QUANTIZER AND ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER by Paul Van Etten and John V. McNamara. The device disclosed in that patent, however, utilizes a mosaic target of electron beam sensitive elements that are positioned within a vacuum element. The manufacturing techniques necessary to include functional elements within the vacuum enclosure together with various other construction problems associated with such a geometry detract appreciably from the device's utility and add substantially to its cost.
The present invention is an improvement of the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,363 and it eliminates the various construction problems while retaining all other advantages over prior art devices.